Ishiguro's Cheerful Novel

In The Guardian, Kazuo Ushiguro writes that it was tuning in to a radio programme on biotechnology that first alerted him to the theme of Never Let Me Go. That apart, he offers interesting insights into his craft:

I could finally see the story I'd been looking for: something simple, but very fundamental, about the sadness of the human condition. After that, I worked pretty steadily, averaging about 30 hours a week, for three years, until my book was finished.

I remember reading it back for the first time and concluding this was my most cheerful novel to date.

When I write about children, I do much the same as when I write about elderly people, or any other character who's different from me in culture or experience. I try my best to think and feel as they would, then see where that takes me.